Wilson College will go fully coeducational

Trustees at a small, 143-year-old women’s college in central Pennsylvania have approved a plan that will convert the school to a fully coeducational institution, officials said Sunday.

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Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

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Posted Jan. 14, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Posted Jan. 14, 2013 at 11:00 AM

CHAMBERSBURG (AP) — Trustees at a small, 143-year-old women’s college in central Pennsylvania have approved a plan that will convert the school to a fully coeducational institution, officials said Sunday.

Wilson College officials said the liberal arts school in Chambersburg would begin enrolling male students without an age restriction as commuter students in the fall of this year, and in fall 2014 will admit male residential students. Wilson currently allows men to be commuter students if they are children of staff or at least 22 years old. About 11.7 percent of students are male.

In addition to expanding coeducation across all programs, the college plans to reduce tuition, set up a student loan buyback program, add new academic programs — a number of them in health sciences — and improve facilities.

“All of the measures together are aimed at significantly increasing our enrollment — that’s the Number 1 goal,” said college president Barbara Mistick, who declined to reveal the exact vote by the 28 trustees but said it was over the required two-thirds majority.

The numbers

The school has run operational budget deficits in three of the past four years and has a $31 million debt, $10 million in deferred maintenance and a $12 million library project. Enrollment is about 700, including 320 in the College for Women, 300 in the adult degree program and more than 70 taking graduate programs. The plan is to double enrollment by 2020.

Mistick acknowledged that a transition to coeducation was an emotional question for a women’s college but said changes were needed for the institution’s future.

“We’re going to have work to do to keep everyone in the Wilson family, and we certainly want to do that,” she said. “And I do think at the end of the day that our alumnae really care about the institution, and sometimes, we have to change over time. The conditions that were in place and the way society was when we were formed in 1869 is not exactly the way it is today in 2013, so I do think this is a great move for the college’s long-term survival.”

Trustee Amy Boyce of Fayetteville also declined to reveal the vote total or her own stance but said several trustees became emotional after the decision was made.

“There used to be 240 women’s colleges in the country,” she said. “There were only 46 as of yesterday and now there are 45.”

Opponents, she said, still saw a role for a women’s college despite changes in the culture, to help girls who are hesitant to raise their hands in class because they lack encouragement from teachers or fear the reaction of male students.

“Then they come to a women’s college and find their voices. They become leaders, they start to explore career options, they become presidents of clubs rather than the secretary,” she said. “For many young women, they don’t know who they are until boys are removed from the picture and they have the opportunity or obligation to be the spokespeople and the leaders.”

Page 2 of 2 - The school has cited studies indicating that only 2 percent of college-age women would actively consider and ultimately apply to a women’s college, and without increased coeducation the projected enrollment would not lead the college to fiscal sustainability. An implementation committee with student, faculty, staff and alumnae representatives will include efforts to preserve and enhance Wilson’s culture and traditions, including women-centered education, the college’s statement said.

Other changes

Tuition will be reduced from under $29,000 to less than $24,000 beginning in the 2014-15 year, Mistick said.

Officials said the new academic programs — with health care as the core — are projected to add about 250 students to campus, and online offerings in other areas are intended to add another 470 students or more. But said that the college cannot stay on its current course and survive.

“It would be a slow, but inexorable, decline,” said trustee Leslie Durgin, who chaired the Commission on Shaping the Future of Wilson College.